Answer by kenorb for How do I clone a Git repository into a specific folder?

To clone git repository into a specific folder, you can use -C <path> parameter, e.g.

git -C /httpdocs clone git@github.com:whatever

Although it'll still create a whatever folder on top of it, so to clone the content of the repository into current directory, use the following syntax:

cd /httpdocsgit clone git@github.com:whatever .

^{Note that cloning into an existing directory is only allowed when the directory is empty.}

Since you're cloning into folder that is accessible for public, consider separating your Git repository from your working tree by using --separate-git-dir=<git dir> or exclude .git folder in your web server configuration (e.g. in .htaccess file).